This exhibition explores utopian projects that could serve the purposes of breaking away from, and resistance to, our present. The ‘negative’ or ‘critical’ version of the utopian ‘impulse’ is not just a matter of satire, or of drawing up a list of what is wrong with the world (as though listing its flaws could make a difference). Instead, utopia is the assertion of the unrealised in and against the real.
The exhibition at the Secession will be divided into seven salons and brings together cultural producers with substantial artistic and curatorial experience. The sequence of exhibitions at the Secession consists of Salon Public Happiness (curated by Christoph Schäfer, 11 to 16 September 2014), Salon-E-Girdbad [Salon of thel Whirlwind] (curated by Mariam Ghani, 17 to 23 September 2014) , Salon Orizzonti Occupati (curated by Bert Theis, 24 to 30 September 2014), Salon Fluchthilfe (curated by Zanny Begg, 1 to 7 October 2014), Salon DADADA (AND AND AND with Ben Morea, 8 to 14 October 2014 ), Cuartos de Utopía (curated by Pedro G. Romero / Máquina, P.H., 15 to 21 October 2014) and Salón de Belleza (curated by Miguel A. López, 22 October to 2 November 2014). The exhibition is accompanied by interventions in other formats, such as the huge posters announcing the artist-curators on the building’s façade.
AC/E is collaborating in the project by supporting the participation of the Spanish artist Pedro G. Romero, whose work takes a critical look at the history of gypsies and flamenco in general and in the city of Vienna in particular. It includes flamenco shows by local artists, a mention of the Haus Wittgenstein, now the Embassy of Bulgaria in Vienna, screenings of films and an investigation of Otto Neurath’s travels in the Balkans and his use of the gypsy settlements, which came to be known as ‘Gypsy Urbanism’.
The exhibition at the Secession will be divided into seven salons and brings together cultural producers with substantial artistic and curatorial experience. The sequence of exhibitions at the Secession consists of Salon Public Happiness (curated by Christoph Schäfer, 11 to 16 September 2014), Salon-E-Girdbad [Salon of thel Whirlwind] (curated by Mariam Ghani, 17 to 23 September 2014) , Salon Orizzonti Occupati (curated by Bert Theis, 24 to 30 September 2014), Salon Fluchthilfe (curated by Zanny Begg, 1 to 7 October 2014), Salon DADADA (AND AND AND with Ben Morea, 8 to 14 October 2014 ), Cuartos de Utopía (curated by Pedro G. Romero / Máquina, P.H., 15 to 21 October 2014) and Salón de Belleza (curated by Miguel A. López, 22 October to 2 November 2014). The exhibition is accompanied by interventions in other formats, such as the huge posters announcing the artist-curators on the building’s façade.
AC/E is collaborating in the project by supporting the participation of the Spanish artist Pedro G. Romero, whose work takes a critical look at the history of gypsies and flamenco in general and in the city of Vienna in particular. It includes flamenco shows by local artists, a mention of the Haus Wittgenstein, now the Embassy of Bulgaria in Vienna, screenings of films and an investigation of Otto Neurath’s travels in the Balkans and his use of the gypsy settlements, which came to be known as ‘Gypsy Urbanism’.